At the start Senna went into the lead with Mansell getting the better of Prost to grab second place. At the end of the lap, however, Stefano Modena spun his Brabham in the last corner and Olivier Grouillard (Ligier), Alex Caffi (Scuderia Italia Dallara) and Ivan Capelli (March) were also involved and so the race was red-flagged. At the second start Senna led Prost and Berger with Mansell fourth. The Englishman soon moved ahead of the Austrian and then he found himself in second place when Prost pitted for new tires. As Berger had disappeared with hydraulic trouble, Patrese moved to third place and this became second when Mansell went out after 43 laps with gearbox trouble. Alboreto finished third with Sanro Nannini fourth for Benetton, the recovering Prost fifth and Gabriele Tarquini (AGS) taking sixth place.